Explore the ways in which a feminist critic might interpret tennessee williams a streetcar named desire, with a particular focus on the female characters since the woman s movement in the 1960 s, feminist literary critics have been interested in the way canonical literature represents women in society. The relationship between stanley and stella vividly pictures a stereotyped world filled with weak. Psychoanalytic activity one tennessee williams biography a streetcar named desire, like most of tennessee williamsos work, is peppered with bits and pieces of his own life, references to his past, and character traits drawn from family members. Streetcar named desire throughout the character of blanche2. An introduction to the main characters and relationships in a streetcar named desire by tennessee williams. Before catching a ride to new orleans on a streetcar named desire, blanche taught english in southern mississippi. Masculinity in a streetcar named desire odds and ends. Relationships in tennessee williams a streetcar named. The ways in which a feminist critic might interpret. Presentation of female characters in a streetcar named.
I wrote this essay for my american literature class last year. Williams emotional leanings, sensitivity, and intuition enable him to see life through womens eyes. Streetcar named desire based on the female objectification theory. It is stated that there has always been a difference in the class and gender of mankind as the rich were always superior to the poor, and men were seen as more superior to woman. At first, this socalled madness is just an attempted escape from realityan altered selfimage and a polished persona that doesnt accurately reflect the character below. The author of this essay class and gender in a streetcar named desire casts light on the gender inequality issues. Turning interpersonal relationships to a battlefield, williamss plays display a constant power struggle which originates from the domineering characters desire to retain their position of the. Each character is described through a set of stereotypes that define and shape their lives. In contrast, blanches relationships with men lack the control that she. One of the most interesting themes in a streetcar named desire is otherness and its relation to gender identity.
Nov 01, 2015 stanley kowalski, the domineering husband of stella dubois in a streetcar named desire, is portrayed by tennessee williams as stereotypically masculine. Tennessee williams film adapted play, a streetcar d desire, is a landmark film in terms of its incredible ensemble performance, elia kazans brilliant direction, and evocative art direction that pushed censorship lines with its provocative realism of alcoholism, insanity, violence, and rape. The glaring contrast and fierce struggle between the two worlds of stanley kowalski and blanche dubois are the main themes of williams play. Describing the relationships between the characters in the play a streetcar named desire by tennessee williams.
Gender sexuality main examples of gender issues in the play. A streetcar named desire by tennessee williams and so it was i entered the broken world to trace the visionary company of love, its voice an instant in the wind i know not whither hurled but not for long to hold each desperate choice the broken tower by hart crane scene one. Blanche and stella demonstrate two different types of femininity in the play, yet both find themselves dependent on men. The power of sexual desire is the engine propelling a streetcar named desire. In a streetcar named desire, gender role is a major theme. Set in the pivotal years immediately following world war ii, tennessee williams infuses blanche and stanley with the symbols of opposing class and differing attitudes towards sex and love, then steps. Stanleys dominant and violent personality stellas submission and obedience to stanley mitchs sensitivity and how others react to it blanches defiance of many of the stereotypical behaviour of women in this time why. In a streetcar named desire, discuss williams presentation of male and female characters in the poker night scene, and what it suggests about how power is shared among men and women e. It examines blanches past and present behavior and argues that blanche has undergone sexual objectification and consequently. Pdf the image of women in tennessee williamss a streetcar. Introduction the film streetcar named desire is a complex. Many critics believe that williams invented the idea of desire for the 20th century. The presentation of female characters plays a very significant role in both a streetcar named desire and the worlds wife and though these texts express similar ideas. A streetcar named desire analysis 859 words 4 pages.
This essay utilizes a three paragraph format with the first one serving as a thesis, the second as an antithesis and the third as a synthesis. A streetcar named desire reflects that the compliance to a patriarchal hierarchy results in female passivity and male dominance and when patriarchal paradigms are forced upon society, the marginalisation of women will ensue. The dramatic world of the elysian fields, the place where the action of the play a streetcar named desire is located, is populated by an equal number of female and male characters. Tennessee williams a streetcar named desire scene 10. It may be women over man, man over women, or in what the true definition of a marriage is an equal partnership. Women as victims in tennessee williams first three major. So therefore, stanley is a mirror image of the masculine society around him, in specific is clear rolemodel as of scene 8 huey long, and is now representing this in. Women as victims in tennessee williams first three major plays. Femininity and dependence theme in a streetcar named desire. She also has a bad drinking problem, which she covers up poorly. A streetcar named desire perspectives activity one analyzing the portrayal of women as dependent upon men 1. A streetcar named desire is a poem repressed by the machine age of modern life.
The a streetcar named desire characters covered include. Both blanche and stella define themselves in terms of the men in their lives, and they. Feminist theory applied to a streetcar named desire. Her family fortune and estate are gone, she lost her young husband to suicide years earlier, and she is a social pariah due to her indiscrete sexual behavior.
The image of women in tennessee williamss a streetcar. Much action tbd means that something needs to happen here but that it is to be determined during rehearsal, so were not sure just what it is yet. The destruction of blanche in a streetcar named desire a streetcar named desire is an intricate web of complex themes and conflicted characters. Indeed, the confrontation between blanche and stanley is only a. This paper focuses its attention on the female characters in tennessee williams a streetcar named desire based on the female objectification theory.
Psychoanalytic theory applied to a streetcar named desire. Analysis the analysis of the women image in a streetcar named desire devided into. The ways in which a feminist critic might interpret tennessee. What is dealt with in a streetcar named desire is in the domain of interpersonal or social encounters dissected as the discussion goes on. With the lack of female presidency in america, and a lack of female state government, williams had no true female reflection to work with to portray female power in the play. A streetcar named desire, directed by elia kazan and adapted from tennessee williamss awardwinning play, first premiered in 1951.
Our teacher edition on a streetcar named desire can help. Pdf on the female sexual objectification in tennessee. A streetcar named desire study guide contains a biography of tennessee williams, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The basis of the movement, both in literature and society, is that the western world is fundamen.
The clash of genders in a streetcar named desire iftimie. One of streetcarsgreat paradoxes is that it subverted realistic theatre and at the same time was rooted in the behaviorism of kazans group theatre techniques. Aug 30, 2019 before catching a ride to new orleans on a streetcar named desire, blanche taught english in southern mississippi. A streetcar named desire examines the way women were treated in the postwar american society.
A gripping domestic drama filled with sex and violence, the story. The glass menagerie, a streetcar named desire, and summer and. The trap that blanche alludes to is more than just the circumstances that have led to her final violent confrontation with stanley. Abstract the clash of genders in a streetcar named desire. While reading a streetcar named desire, i was struck by stanley kowalskis overwhelming masculinity. The way female characters are depicted in short stories, poems, books, and essays all change depending on the writer. These two worlds are so diametrically opposed that they can never meet. The glass menagerie new directions books tennessee williams. Desire for sex drives her life down the predetermined tracks. Representations of the homosexual experience in a streetcar. For example, stanley fits the prescribed gender role, which includes characteristics such as being lusty, sexual, the provider, brute, unrefined, primitive and rough.
A streetcar named desire is the story of an emotionally. In the glass menagerie, a streetcar named desire, and summer and smoke, williams astutely sounds the. Male and female characters in a streetcar named desireanda streetcar named desire 1609 words 7 pages. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in a streetcar named desire, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. A streetcar named desire is a well educated book for grade 12 students as it offers many learning experiences. A streetcar named desire new directions paperbook tennessee williams. The female figures present in the play are blanche du bois, her sister stella, eunice stella. You may want to distribute the handout in advance and ask students to read the assigned.
Although tennessee williams does not openly champion the rights of women in his plays, he presents strong cases against their social alienation in a harsh and brutal world governed by men. On the female sexual objectification in tennessee williamss a. A streetcar named desire by tennessee williams brings to light many of the truths as to society. Blanche and the fear of patriarchy in a streetcar named desire.
Sexual desire theme in a streetcar named desire litcharts. Williams had close relationships with many women throughout his life. Within the walls of her schoolroom, blanche dubois substitutes her grief for her dead husband onto a young schoolboy, catalysing her descent into madness. On the female sexual objectification in tennessee williamss a streetcar named desire article pdf available january 2016 with 1,163 reads how we measure reads. Williams a streetcar named desire that she is caught in a trap 400, she could be speaking for all of the plays major characters. In williamss theatre, then, realism, expressionism, and naturalism coalesce to represent blanches illusions, thus 4. The female figures present in the play are blanche du bois, her sister stella, eunice stellas friend and neighbour, the matron, an afroamerican woman, a.
They told me to take a streetcar named desire motif, metaphorical. It examines blanches past and present behavior and argues that blanche has undergone sexual objectification and consequently self. Relationships in a streetcar named desire in many modern day relationships between a man and a woman, there is usually a controlling figure that is dominant over the other. The presentation of female characters plays a very significant role in both a streetcar named desire and the worlds wife and though these texts express similar ideas about women, there is also substantial differences. One can see that stanley is lusty and sexual because women including. A feminist study of otherness in a streetcar named desire and its.
On the female sexual objectification in tennessee williams. A list of all the characters in a streetcar named desire. Blanche dubois, stella kowalski, stanley kowalski, harold mitch mitchell, eunice, allan grey, a young collector, shep huntleigh, steve, pablo, a negro woman, a doctor, a mexican woman, a nurse, shaw, prostitute. The theme of femininity and dependence in a streetcar named. Get the entire a streetcar named desire litchart as a printable pdf. Apr 30, 2018 a streetcar named desire reflects that the compliance to a patriarchal hierarchy results in female passivity and male dominance and when patriarchal paradigms are forced upon society, the marginalisation of women will ensue. Presentation of female characters in a streetcar named desire. Long days journey into night yale nota bene eugene oneill. This play gives insight into the harsh reality of what gender roles use to be, also the play a streetcar named desire emphasizes on the current issue of domestic violence.
A streetcar named desire perspectives a streetcar named desire. In both the 1947 play and 1998 opera, a streetcar named desire, both tennessee williams and andre previn depict the mental decline of the fragile blanche dubois through her desperate cries for human affection, her loss of sanity deriving from the constant struggle between male societys prescriptions for female behavior, and her own. In a related vein, sandra lee bartky 1990 regards a. When the play begins, blanche is already a fallen woman in societys eyes. The two world wars had invested marginalised groups with sudden power, and for a short time the balance of power between the genders had shifted. A range of dramatic techniques, such as dialogue, stage directions, gaps and silences, setting, catalogue, foreshadow, symbolism, irony, and character, are employed in order to shape understandings of gender. Thus, in order to bring these two together to have these two encounter each other williams has created stella. Gender stereotyping in tennessee williamss a streetcar named. What are the key themes of a streetcar named desire and how does. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Hes got things the way he wants them around there and he does not want them upset by.
Femininity and dependence theme in a streetcar named. In a related vein, sandra lee bartky 1990 regards a person as being sexually. Streetcar named desire is located, is populated by an equal number of female and male characters. There are characters that fit these prescribed gender roles. It starts out as a love triangle, turns into a love square and then into a straight line. A streetcar named desire features a gradual descent into madness, brought about by loss, depression, financial ruin, and the cruelty of others. On the female sexual objectification in tennessee williamss. Discusses the representation of different gender stereotypes within a streetcar named desire by tennessee williams the midtwentieth century was a time of great social upheaval.
656 583 1097 454 633 1009 1355 1288 310 533 25 1302 145 912 1187 5 581 1185 1110 1338 1449 469 876 943 22 1002 11 755 1236 111 1116 938 1302 1057 894 926 1439 907 523 999 244 430 1190